More court drama
Well, for the first time in ages, there has been some activity regarding VIP. I have not posted in months, as nothing new was going on.
For the latest news about VIPs appeal of a courts ruling concerning the town of Berlin and its right to zone adult businesses, here is an article from todays Courant.
For those of you who want to comment and call me a prude or whatever, dont bother, I no longer post or even check the comments. Start your own blog on the subject if you feel that strongly that an adult store belongs next to a residential neighborhood. Even better, make an offer on my house, if you would like to live next door to a 15,000 sq. ft. store full of porn, dildos, knives and bongs that is open until 2:00am.
More Berlin coverage in the Hartford Advocate
Its been a really long time since my last post.
After the previous post with the photo of my daughter, I felt there was little left to say, as far as reasons to oppose VIP locating next door.
To catch up, it has been a long summer of waiting. And there is plenty more waiting to do, as the VIP Federal lawsuit has been pushed all the way to November. In July, The Connecticut state Superior Court rejected VIPs lawsuit challenging the town’s Sexually Oriented Business ordinance. Very good news for us.
Phantom Fireworks leased the VIP property for the summer, and were very good neighbors. Other activity in the neighborhood included calling the police to report sightings of 2 women who appeared to be selling their wares. The Berlin Citizen reported on this a few weeks ago, and todays Hartford Advocate deals with the issue in their cover story Turnpike at a Crossroads.
I agree that the Berlin Turnpike in Berlin is at a Crossroads. It could go either way, revitalization or further downhill. Additional adult businesses could only contribute to its demise. Thoughtful planning and zoning could make it an attractive business area, centrally located with easy access from both Hartford and New Haven.
Another one down!
My neighbor Stan sent me an email today with the message that the VIP billboard on Mill Street is now down! Last week some news stories appeared in the Berlin Citizen and local TV news about Stan contacting the billboard company to let them know the billboards for Penthouse Boutique and VIP where across the street from a church and in violation of outdoor advertising standards.
The company agreed to try to resolve the issue, and the Penthouse Boutique board was moved to another location. Today the VIP board is down too. I don’t know the reasons, but I am glad to see the effectiveness of contacting a company, voicing concerns, and actually getting some results!
Of course, an hour after learning about this, I sit here looking out my living room window to this view: (Yes, this is a photo taken from my livingroom of the mobile billboard in the VIP parking lot. This is how close it is.)
Up close and personal: 
Berlin’s Billboard “Battle” a Bit Over-blown
One local news station called it a “battle” over adult business billboards, but I think “battle” is overstating the case.
The Berlin Citizen hit closer to the mark covering a story related to, yet seperate from, the continuing VIP issue in Berlin.
“Can you do anything about those billboards?” is a comment that comes up a lot. Drivers along I-91 and I-84 pass several billboards for not only VIP, but several other similar stores. Many people say it is especially uncomfortable when they have children in the car with them. Others say things like out-of-towners might get the impression that “adult businesses” are all Hartford has to offer.
The most offensive billboard situation, for my neighborhood at least, isn’t the interstate billboards, but a billboard about 3/4 of a mile from our neighborhood, en route to our elementary school, on Rt. 372, which featured a board for Penthouse Boutique on one side, and VIP on the other side. More egregious, these boards are right across the street from a church, Bethany Covenant.
Frankly, the effort to keep an adult store from being my next door neighbor is my main concern. I also didn’t really know if anything could be done. I did a little googling on the subject of billboards and came across the website for the Outdoor Advertising Association of America, the lead trade association representing the outdoor advertising industry.
The OAAA Code of Industry Principles states:
We are careful to place outdoor advertisements for products illegal for sale to minors on advertising displays that are a reasonable distance from the public places where children most frequently congregate.
We are committed to a program that establishes exclusionary zones that prohibit stationary advertisements of products illegal for sale to minors that are intended to be read from, or within 500 feet of, elementary and secondary schools, public playgrounds, and established places of worship.
We support establishing reasonable limits on the total number of outdoor displays in a market that may carry messages about products that are illegal for sale to minors.
I mentioned this finding to Stan, a neighbor and active member of our neighborhood group. Stan began contacting the company, which is located in New Jersey. He eventually got through to the owner, and explained the local situation, and told him the boards were clearly within 500′ of a church, which they company seemed unaware of.
With some persistence and cajoling on Stan’s part, the owner of the billboards agreed that the boards were possibly in violation of the OAAA principles. These are not legaling-binding, necessarily, but the company was willing to work on resolving the situation. The Penthouse Boutique ad has been moved to another location owned by the billboard company. The VIP board is under contract for a few more months. Now that the billboard company is aware of the violation, though, they will advise that the location is no longer available for adult business advertising.
If you find advertising to be offensive or in violation of standards… find out who is in control of it and TELL them. All billboards have the name of the company that owns them and usually a phone number along the bottom of the frame. There is also an ID# for that board, if possible give the company the exact location by providing this number.
Stan and I would love to see some local businesses place ads on the boards across from the church, both to thank the billboard company for addressing the community concerns, and to keep those boards from otherwise being blank, or having undesirable advertisers ever again.
The REAL story here is that something CAN be done, and one individual CAN effect change. Kudos to Stan!
Neighbors do about-face and vote to Welcome porn shop!
Last night, in an unexpected about-face, neighbors in Berlin’s Webster Heights voted to give up their opposition to the VIP “adult” shop that is trying to open near their homes.
When asked why the sudden change of heart, one resident, who asked to remain anonymous, stated “After reviewing some of the points brought up by Atty. Dan Silver, General Manager Gary Porter, and a letter to the editor of the Berlin Citizen by an astute Berlinite… we just saw the light. It’s all in the way you choose to view the situation. If you just take a moment, you can appreciate all the positives, and forget all the negative aspects so many have been dwelling on.”
Asked to elaborate, another neighbor offered these selling points,”Well, to be honest, I never considered the convenience of not having to drive all the way to Hartford to buy a little sexy something for my wife’s birthday! With VIP just a few doors down, I can just pop in on my way home from work, without having to go the extra ten miles into that dangerous industrial section of Hartford.”
A mother of three chimed in saying “With 3 kids, its hard to find time to “spice things up,” if you know what I mean. Now that I know it’s really a romance shop, maybe it can help revive my less-than-spicy marriage and keep my husband off the computer for a while. Really, I mean, I hear these stores actually SAVE marriages.”
Aren’t you concerned about property values? One resident answered that “At first, I WAS, but since that letter in the Citizen pointed out that maybe if we just give them a chance, VIP will go out of their way to be a “low-key, unobtrusive” adult business, you know, that quitely blends in with the neighborhood. I’m not concerned anymore that they might paint it the same color as the Manchester location. As far as potential pornographic litter, I’m sure that they have parking lot clean up on an hourly basis.”
What about other potential problems in the parking lot? “Oh, I am sure that they must have security surveillance at all times! I mean, would people actually DO something sexual in a parking lot?”
One neighbor said she was even considering getting a part-time job at the store. “Why not? I could walk to work and save on gas. I mean, besides bringing down taxes, VIP is even bringing JOBS to Berlin!”
And what about the imact on the children? “Oh, I don’t know what the fuss is. They’re just going to see these things on TV anyways… this stuff is so mainstream, they probably have seen it all already.”
Asked for his take on the turnaround, Mayor Adam Salina said “You know, I never thought of these things either. Maybe we should embrace VIP, and other stores like it, and promote Berlin as the Sex-positive Mecca of Central Connecticut. Maybe we could get a billboard that says “Berlin, your place for hometown porn, around every corner!”
Gary Porter, VIP general manager stated “I KNEW these people would come around after I just EXPLAINED the benefits we have to offer!”
As I was reviewing my notes for this article, I noticed the date of the meeting: Sunday, April 1, 2007. APRIL FOOLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Call me a “prude” if you want
American Heritage Dictionary:
prude (prūd) n.
One who is excessively concerned with being or appearing to be proper, modest, or righteous.
[French, short for prude femme, virtuous woman : Old French prude, feminine of prud, virtuous; see proud + French femme, woman (from Latin fēmina; see feminine).]
Wikipedia wiktionary:
prude (plural prudes)
A person who is or tries to be excessively proper, especially one who is easily offended by matters of a sexual nature.
I have at times been called a prude, sexually repressed, told to “get a life,” etc. All because I don’t want a 15,000 sq. ft. adult mega-store to locate next door (abutting property) to my family’s home.
I wonder how these same sexually enlightened people would feel if it was their home that was going to see property values depreciate, their neighborhood that was going to be the “home” of one of these stores they love so much.
This is a personal blog, and I admit that I have a biased view, and this blog is written for the benefit of my neighbors to keep them informed as to what is happening with our fight against a sexually oriented business locating in our neighborhood. This is not a public forum trying to present “fair and balanced” information. While I have posted all comments that have been submitted (thus far,) I feel no obligation to “see things from the other side.”
If someone has views to the contrary, that is their right. If someone feels equally “pro-sexually oriented businesses opening less than 250′ from residential property,” or some other “pro-SOB” stance, that is also their right. I think they should start their own blog on the subject, like this person has. They could get space here at wordpress.com… It’s FREE!
That’s the great thing about blogs. I can get my information and/or opinion out to like-minded individuals. It is my hope that this blog is not only helpful to my neighbors, but to other people who are fighting SOB’s throughout the country (and there are many.)
I am not protesting against porn specifically (I personally find most of it degrades & objectifies women, and discourages real intimacy for men, but that’s just MY opinion) The porn industry is just too big for this forum. But I do feel empowered to fight for the right to not have it sold just outside my window until 2:00am! I am NOT easily offended by matters of a sexual nature. I am offended by matters of an offensive nature! If this makes me a prude, then I guess I’m a prude.
If you don’t understand why I would feel this way, have I got the perfect house for you…
Signs are down!
I arrived home from work this afternoon to find the signs are down!
While this does not mean anything as far are the final court decisions go, it still feels good to not have to look out my window and see the VIP sign glowing back at me.
It seems the main goal of the signs going up when they did was as billboards for Valentine’s Day (a big day for “romance shops!”).
As I write this I just glanced out my living room window, only to see the VIP mobile billboard truck go by.
A small, short lived victory, but it still feels good!
Every house has a story…
I have gotten a variety of comments since this whole VIP thing began in September.
At one end of the spectrum are comments that I somehow was asking for it (to have a sexually oriented business located next door to me) because I was “foolish enough “ to buy a house located off of the Berlin Turnpike.
At the other end of the spectrum, I have been accused of being a “typical Berlin holier-than-thou housewife who has a pathetic life and nothing better to worry about.”
These are unfair assumptions.
I bought my house in 1992. I was a 27 year old widow with a 5 year old child.
My first husband died when my daughter was 13 months old. A year later, I managed to find a basement apartment in Kensington (a rarity) so I could be closer to my parents, who really wanted me to move back to their house.
(A little side story: the Kensington apartment was $250 a month more than the East Hartford apartment I was leaving. I took a leap of faith that I would find the money somehow… three days after moving in, I got a letter from Social Security saying they had miscalculated my daughter’s monthly survivors benefit and we would be getting an additional-you guessed it, $250 a month! Retroactive. I was finally able to pay off the funeral expenses as well.)
We lived there for about 3 years when interest rates got low, and I started to think about buying a house. I got pre-approved and started looking. I wasn’t pre-approved for very much. I wanted to stay in Berlin because my parents helped so much with my daughter.
For nearly a year I looked at every reasonably priced house on the market.
I ate ramen noodles for lunch for months. My daughter didn’t ask for cookies at the grocery store, she asked if we had a coupon for cookies. I cut every corner imaginable to save for my own home.
When we came to see this house on Woodruff Circle, my daughter noticed it right away: “Mommy, Elvis is everywhere!” The previous owner was a huge Elvis fan, and had memorabilia all over the house. And orange shag carpeting. But underneath were hardwood floors! And there was a fireplace… and a garage… and a porch!
It was just a bit over my price range, but it offered so much more, and the neighborhood was much nicer, than all of the other homes I had looked at. There was just one issue.
The wooded lot next door, which fronted on the Berlin Turnpike, was just purchased, and a Thomasville Furniture store was going to be built.
I remembered this location as being a town park & rec site when I was a kid. I was concerned that if the furniture store closed, maybe a bar, or a restaurant, or a gas station could go in there.
I called the town, and was assured that the location could only be zoned for similar retail use. It could never be zoned for a bar or food service, or anything else. I decided I could deal with an upscale furniture store. Back then (this was even before the general public knew about the internet) there was no such thing as a 15,000 sq. ft. “adult” shop! I don’t know anyone who could have imagined it at the time.
I took another leap of faith.
Thomasville opened a few months later. They were very, very good neighbors for about 10 years. They were open 10am-5pm, til 8 on Thursdays. There was not ever a problem.
There were lots of kids in the neighborhood for my daughter to play with. We made friends, many like family.
I worked full time and most of the time had a second job on weekends. I hosted open houses for a builder, I did filing in an office – mostly jobs I could bring my daughter with me. If not, she would go to a neighbor friends while I worked. Money was always tight, but I managed pretty well!
Fast forward to 2006… Over the years, I’ve added 2 rooms to the house, new roof, siding and more. I added a new husband in 2001, and a new baby in 2002! We decided to stay on Woodruff Circle for the time being… we like it here.
My older daughter graduated from high school, my mother-in-law moved in. Things are really quite good. Maybe we should start thinking about a bigger house soon.
Then the article about VIP appeared in the paper.
So… those plans are on hold.
I have had bigger problems in my life, BUT, this is a problem I might be able to do something about.
We have lots of things going on in our lives, but I didn’t work this hard for so long to have this type of store diminish my property values or the quality of life for my family.
Every house in this neighborhood has a family and a story.
I actually understand the comment about holier-than-thou Berlin housewife attitudes (that could be another whole blog), but this is not a neighborhood full of people like that at all.
Who are the people in your neighborhood?
They’re the people that you meet, when you’re walking down the street…
They’re the people that you meet each day! (from a Sesame Street song)
My neighborhood is a really nice neighborhood. It is not an upscale neighborhood of “McMansions”, nor is it a “housing project” of identical homes on identical lots. It is a mix of styles, sizes and people. There are ranches, capes, colonials, raised ranches, contemporary-styles. Many were built in the 50’s & 60’s, some in the 70’s and 80’s and a few even more recently. All are well-kept. None are ostentatious. It’s just a nice, “regular” neighborhood, and we like it this way.
Many have lived here since these homes were built. Some have bought the homes they were raised in, and are raising their children here. Some, like Lenny and me, grew up elsewhere in town, went to school here and want to raise our kids here. There are plenty of folks from other places, too, who found this neighborhood and wanted to stay. From New Britain, of course, and Newington, Middletown and Bristol. There are families from Poland, Lithuania, Bosnia and Vietnam. We all call Webster Heights home.
We come from all walks of life as well… teachers, construction workers, newspaper editors, accountants, real estate agents, lawyers, many small business owners, doctors, grocery store managers, technicians, nurses, funeral directors, engineers, mechanics, graphic artists…
Over the years, I have come to know many of these people… mostly through my children, or my dogs (funny how that is!). Some have become close friends, others I only have known to wave to. If there is a silver lining to the VIP situation, it is that I now know so many more of my neighbors. We have “bonded” in our fight to protect our neighborhood!
I have come to make new friends at our neighborhood meetings. I would never have been more than a “waver” to many people whom I now call “friend.”
As the homeowners located closest to this proposed store (“ground zero” is the tongue-in-cheek nickname for my yard) I can not overstate the gratitude and appreciation Lenny and I have for all of these people who are working together to oppose this store.
Thank you.
Courant 1/27/07: Proposed Sex-Themed Business Gets Cease-And-Desist Order
An article in today’s Hartford Courant about the cease and desist order. Mayor Adam Salina and I are both quoted, as is VIP “general manager”, Gary Porter.
You just gotta love our mayor’s quotes!!!
We also had some TV news coverage 1/25 Thursday night on Channel 8 and Channel 30. Bob Wilson interviewed Stan K., Karen S., Kebe B., and me, though the only had time to show a clip of Kebe!
Hello world!
Here is the new sign on the building, my house can be seen to the right.
